Note 7 - Employee Benefit Plans (Details Textual) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Aug. 27, 2016	Aug. 29, 2015	Aug. 30, 2014
UniFirst Plan [Member]
Pension Expense	$ 0.4	$ 0.4	$ 0.4
Defined Benefit Plan, Minimum Annual Interest Rate	3.25%
Textilease Plan [Member]
Pension Expense	$ 0.2	0.3	0.2
Defined Benefit Plan, Minimum Annual Interest Rate	1.50%
Pension Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Accumulated Benefit Obligation	$ 8.9	8.3
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan, Accumulated Benefit Obligation	30.7	18.6
Pension Expense	2.4	2.8	2.1
Defined Contribution Plan, Cost Recognized	$ 13.8	$ 15.8	$ 16.4

The minimum annual interest rate which is applied to the plan amount invested in a Guaranteed Deposit Account.

No definition available.

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- Definition

For defined benefit pension plans, the actuarial present value of benefits (whether vested or nonvested) attributed by the pension benefit formula to employee service rendered before a specified date and based on employee service and compensation (if applicable) before that date. The accumulated benefit obligation differs from the projected benefit obligation in that it includes no assumption about future compensation levels. For plans with flat-benefit or nonpay-related pension benefit formulas, the accumulated benefit obligation and the projected benefit obligation are the same.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Accumulated Benefit Obligation
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6503844

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65897934&loc=d3e1928-114920

+ Details

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- Definition

The amount of the cost recognized during the period for defined contribution plans.

+ References

+ Details

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- Definition

The amount of pension benefit costs recognized during the period for (1) defined benefit plans and (2) defined contribution plans. For defined benefit plans, pension expense includes the following components: service cost, interest cost, expected return on plan assets, gain (loss) on plan assets, prior service cost or credit, transition asset or obligation, and gain (loss) due to settlements or curtailments. For defined contribution plans, the pension expense generally equals the firm's contribution to employees' accounts (if the firm contributes) during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 70
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=49170846&loc=d3e28014-114942

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65897934&loc=d3e1928-114920

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 715
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (h)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65897934&loc=d3e1928-114920

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- Details

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